Kuhli Loach issue

[shokanti]

I have purchase a set of kuhli loach from petsmart.

when, i arrived to the fish tank. they all were extremely active, constant glass surfing and saw them digging themselves under the gravel.

I have acclimated them into a 20gallon fish tank, the levels of water is normal.

I have a bunch of little hiding places for example "pipes in the back and in the front, coconut hut, a stone with a hiding spot. and leafy greens. I also noticed they were hiding behind the sponge filter."

I have sand gravel, I would imagine that they would try and dig themselves underneath.

they have not even looked at the pipes, not under the stone, nor the coconut hut. they are constantly swimming non-stop and glass surfing.  been researching this was called a "noodle dance?"

they rest for possibility a time frame of 1 to 2 min, then after that back to zooming left to right for constant activity (15min.) top to the bottom, then constant.

I have had these loaches for 8 hours already and they haven't stop this behavior? they were suppose to be docile, hiding fish and relaxing fish, but instead they stressing me out. [lol]

I also have the led light turned off, reading a forum post that might reduce the stress level of the new fish being into a new tank.

This is my first time owning fish, i have no idea if this is normal or is this distress. I'm super worried. 😔

[Lennie]

Hey there,

They are just super stressed. It is common for the noodle friends. They are almost always wildcaught, and go through lots of stress factors and many shipments. At last, they find themself in your tank. You should give them time to settle. you can ease this period by dimming or ideally turning off lights, letting them settle. 

They are nocturnal fish, so being under bright lights is no help during this settling time for their new environment. Just know that it is normal and once settled, they will ( or better to say, should) stop this glass surfing. 8 hours is really short for a new fish to settle in a new environment.

Keep the lights off, and let your new friends settle in peace

 

Keep us updated in case stuff goes abnormal. 

[shokanti]

Thank you so much for those words of encouragement! 😃!

I surely will.

[Pepere]

They will indeed settle down, and then you will wonder if they died as you never see them any more… and the one day they will surprise you again as the do the loop de loops a bit before going back into hiding.

 

i am not convinced that it is only a stress reaction.  Part of me thinks they also do it for fun from time to time…